


Never ending

by Fawkespryde



Series: Moments to cherish [9]
Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter RPF, Sideshow - Fandom
Genre: Long Distance Boyfriends, M/M, buck boy being all the way in portland away from his boys, double dates, one homophobic slur gets thrown
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-05
Updated: 2019-05-05
Packaged: 2020-02-26 20:45:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,012
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18724669
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fawkespryde/pseuds/Fawkespryde
Summary: Absence does make the heart grow fonder but it also makes a Buck impatient.He only has a week with his boys. Time to drag them all on the best double date that they had ever had. The kind that would leave them with memories for years to come.Now if only the other three could keep up with him.





	Never ending

 

***

It hadn’t even been a full day since Buck arrived in La and yet, he had already talked Criken, Bed and Tomato into going to Dave & Busters, an arcade, two movies and almost got them to go paintballing. The vote that had vetoed that chaos was, interestingly enough, Bed’s. He said something about the bruises that the bullets left behind. Then again, no one but Buck was eager to shot and get shot by painful little paint pellets. He was hyper since he had arrived in La.

Buck was a handful of boundless energy and he swerved around the sidewalk as he ran, grabbing leaves as he ran under trees and hopping from yellow line to yellow line as they crossed the street. Throughout the day, his excitement seemed to wear on the rest of them and it was becoming more and more obvious, the quieter Tomato got.

Criken could see the stress in Bed’s eyes as even he was starting to get tired from all the walking and touring around La they have done. They hadn’t meant to take as many detours as they had but Buck had that way about him. He could talk Bed into doing pretty much anything short of murder and even then, he’d probably be willing to contemplate it if Buck asked him to.

Tomato also couldn’t find it in himself to raise his voice against any Buck’s suggestions either, the man having a softer spot for the other streamer more than he’d like to admit. He had yelled at him once when they met for the first time and immediately afterwards, felt so bad about he bought him a push-pop from a ice cream truck in apology.

Even Criken was a pushover for the hyper brunette, foregoing the schedule that he had planned in advance. He had already made the announcement on twitter that their little group would be streaming together at his house in a sort of ‘irl sideshow podcast’ for the rest of the evening or until they got tired but instead, they had gotten immediately sidetracked when Buck saw a poster just outside the restaurant they had stopped at.

“Alright, who hasn't seen Antman? Show of hands.”

And with that, they were in the theatre buying popcorn and trying to steer Buck clear of the sour patch kids. That movie turned into another one as Bed got the idea of sneaking in while no one was looking. Fortunately despite being giggly and about as subtle as an elephant painted pink, they didn’t get caught by any employees.

They snuck into some random romantic comedy that they didn’t even care about and sat in the far back row, occasionally throwing popcorn down into the crowd beneath them. Bed was quietly mocking the bad script with Tomato and Buck was fluctuating his voice to match the various actors whenever they appeared in scenes. Criken was pretending that he was invested in the movie and not get away with stealing popcorn from everyone's buckets using his long limbs. Needless to say, they had received more than one bad look from other moviegoers as they walked out during the credits.

“Where to next? Oh oh, I know.” Buck ran up ahead of them in the theater and began walking backwards, barely missing people as they moved to get out of his way. “Waterpark! We passed by one when we took our Uber here.”

Tomato had a tightness in his brow and rose a hand to rub at it, not saying a word but his shoulders painted a picture of someone who was very tired. “Buck, none of us have swimwear and I don’t even think the park would be open at this time of night.”

“I don’t know what your talking about. It’s really not that late-.” He was in the middle of saying but his voice trailed off as they stepped out of the front door. The sun had completely gone down and the temperature that was usually hot enough for t-shirts and shorts had simmered down to a cool breeze that had Criken rubbing his forearms.

Bed gently reached forward and caught Buck by the shoulder before he could run off into the dark parking lot and held him back. At the quizzical look he received, he gently eased Buck against his side and wound an arm around his waist, rested his head on Buck’s shoulder. “Look, I know your excited to go out and do more stuff but we have all week to run around and do stuff.”

Buck tensed up at that and made a discontented noise in the back of his throat, looking down at his sneakers. He mumbled under his breath and shifted his feet before looking back up at Bed with a desperate expression.

“Hey, it’s fine. We can hit the water park tomorrow.” Criken stepped up next to him and gave Buck’s free shoulder a pat. He smiled gratefully at Tomato who already had his phone out and was undoubtedly calling an Uber to come pick them up. “But right now it’s almost ten and we have a stream we need to get back to.”

Buck looked as though he wanted to argue or say more but just settled for leaning in more, turning red as Bed pressed a kiss to the top of his head. Bed let go of his waist in favour of catching his dangling hand. They interlocked their fingers as they walked and Buck beamed up at him, happily swinging their joint arms back and forth. Walking next to Bed ensured that his pace slowed down quite a bit and judging from the long yawn, he was starting to feel tired himself.

“Yeah I guess your-”

“Fags!” A van that was pulling out of the theater parking lot had slowed to a crawl and a man stuck his head out the back passenger window to yelled out at them. He was pointing at Bed and Buck with a deep sneer on his face.

The word got an instant reaction out of all of them. Bed had felt Buck turtle up in his arms and was torn between spitting out a retort and calming down Buck, who looked absolutely crushed. He took a deep breath, his nostrils flaring and his eyes met Tomato's. The redhead fists were clenched as tightly as his jaw and he looked about ready to rain down hell in a moments notice.

Bed nodded ever so subtly at him and turned him and Buck away to walk back into the light of the movie theater. With Buck away from the situation, all hell broke loose. Criken flipped them the bird and looked about to say something else when Tomato smoothly took control of the situation, face as red as his hair. He walked over to the curb with his phone still in hand and bad language spilling from his lips. He got really close to the car and began making wild gestures at the man, looking to the entire world like a man who was possessed.

“That’s fucking funny coming from a backseat bitch like you! Does it feel good yelling from the back of your mother’s minivan like your the big boy on the block? I didn't realize they let cunts out after their curfew.” Tomato’s yelling seemed to get the driver reeling and the man was laughing at his poor friend who had turned pale and shrunk down in the back seat as Tomato got closer to the van. He was slapping the back of the driver’s headrest as if telling his buddy to keep driving to no avail. He had made his bed and now he had to sleep in it.

“Don’t look at your friend. Fuck him. He can’t fucking save you from me. By the time I’m done with you, you’ll be picking your teeth up off the concrete.” Criken stepped in and rested a hand on Tomato’s shoulder to calm him, making a huge display of holding him back for all to see.

“C’mon, he’s not worth going back to prison for.” The lie came easy and it took every ounce of willpower to keep himself from bursting into laughter at the man’s faint expression. “Leave him alone. He’s not worth it.”

Tomato put up a bit of a struggle to make things appear more realistic and he snarled, earning a weak ‘oh god, I’m sorry’ from the man before the van revved up and took off. The driver could be heard cackling at his friends stupidity even as they turned the corner.

Criken let go of Tomato and glanced around at the crowd they had drawn in such a short span of time. ‘Holy fuck, that was..” He trailed off, leaving the ‘hot’ unsaid. His face and ears were red enough to give away exactly what he was thinking.

Tomato noticed and gave him a little smirk but said nothing, instead looking around to find Bed and Buck standing further back in the group of people. “You know, I really should have put a dent in his mother's car...” He was going to say more but his phone made a noise, indicating something. “Well, Uber will be here any minute now. Let’s grab them and get out of here before I snap at anyone else.”

Criken smirked as they walked through the crowd and came up close to Tomato’s side and leaned over to whisper in his ear. “I dunno. I wouldn’t complain if you decided to yell at someone else.”

“And satisfy some weird kink of yours?” Tomato grinned at the flustered expression he received from his words and Criken sputtered, shoving his hands in his pockets in a nervous gesture.

“Fuck you.”

Tomato made a lewd kissing noise at him. He wasn’t a fan of public displays of affection but showed no restraint when it came to riling up Criken. “Maybe later.”

The two of them moved through the crowd of people who were finally dispersing and walked up to Bed, who had curled himself protectively around Buck and was whispering quietly into his ear. Occasionally he kissed the top of his head and looked up only as the other two got closer. “Uber here yet?”

Buck made a noise as Bed stopped whispering to him and leaned further into his embrace, head pressed as far into his shoulder as he could. His hands were tightly curled in his sweater, the knuckles white from the tight grip.

“Yeah, in just a few minutes.” Tomato closed his eyes as his phone made a ding and his eyebrow twitched at the timing. “Actually never mind. It’s here.” He turned completely away from them and sure enough, as if by magic there was a car waiting in from of the movie theater where it had been empty only moments ago.

The driver was looking around and spotted Criken who waved his hand to get his attention. He nodded and honked to indicate that he was indeed their Uber and Tomato was the first one there, confirming all the details with him as Criken stayed behind to help Bed with Buck.

“Come on, let’s get out of here.” Buck looked up at Criken’s words with a hurt expression. He saw the pre-offered hand and his expression shifted from worry to relief. The stress was slowly leaving his shoulders and he took Criken’s hand.

The three of them walked to the car and sat in the back while Tomato was in the front passenger seat. The driver pulled out of the parking lot without a word and barely gave the three men holding each other in the back seat a second glance as he drove them back to Criken’s place. Thankfully the ride back was mostly silence, filled with very little small talk.

Once back in his apartment, they all crowded on the living room couch around Buck. He insisted the whole time they were getting comfortable that he was okay but Bed silenced his protests with a look and kiss to his brow.

“No, really.. Just let me explain.” Buck insisted again, looking between the other three on the couch. Bed was on his left, head on his shoulder while Criken was on his right. His long legs were resting over Tomato’s lap and hanging over the edge of the couch. “It’s just..”

Buck took a deep breath and looked down at the hands on his lap with a frustrated glare. He felt Bed nudge him and the reassuring squeeze of his hand helped steady him. “I'm sorry. I didn't mean to freak out earlier. It wasn't what that idiot back at the theatre said, I promise.”

Criken, Bed and Tomato watched as he squirmed while he spoke. He was bouncing one leg and pulled the other up to his chest, wrapping his arms around it. “I just came to a realization and it sucked. It's about what you said, Bed.”

Hearing his name, Bed tilted his head to the side. He had a look on his face like he was trying to recall what Buck was talking about. It didn't take long before realization struck him and he looked at Buck in melancholy. “Oh Buck, is that why you've been running around all day?”

Tomato leaned forward to stare at Buck past Criken’s shoulder. He glanced between the two of them but said nothing, waiting for an explanation.

“It's just- I live all the way in Portland.” Buck sighed and chewed his lower lip, indications towards Tomato with a wave of his hand. “You live in Massachusetts. None of us live anywhere close to each other. We have a week, a whole week together and then what?”

Criken and Tomato glanced back and forth, finally realizing why Buck had been acting the way he had. They all had assumed he was just overly excited about going on a double date in La. But now it was apparent he was trying to get as much out of his time with them as he could. Criken rested a hand over his heart and Tomato wore a soft expression.

“Buck I know that we only have a week to spend together but that doesn't mean we only ever have one week.” Bed smoothed a warm palm over Buck’s cheek and raised his face till he met his eyes. “We have so many times in the future, you and me. There's no hurry.”

“He's right you know.” Tomato chimed in reaching over to rest a hand reassuringly on Buck’s knee. “If we do everything today, what are we going to do tomorrow?”

Criken smiled as realization began to dawn over Buck’s face. “And if we do everything this week, what we do next week?” He chimed in, Bed nodding in agreement with his every word.

“I know but I can't help it. I was having so much fun and I just didn't want it to end. It's so hard being so far away from all of you all the time.” Buck tried for a smile but still seemed to be feeling down. He pressed his forehead to Bed’s and lifted his hand in order to properly interlock their fingers.

“In a week I'll be back in Portland away from all of you. Away from you.” Buck looked down at their hands before meeting Bed’s eyes again. He directed that last part at Bed and took a deep breath to try and calm himself.

Bed smiled and let out a small laugh, tapping a finger on top of Buck’s nose. “And I’ll be back home away from you. But we’ll get through it. Remember, absence makes the heart grow fonder.”

“Hey-” Criken lifted his legs off Tomato’s lap and sat up, leaning over to wrap an arm around Buck’s shoulders. He had a fond look in his eyes and hugged him, a smile blossoming over his features. “Let's not think about when we're all apart though. Let's think about here and now. We still have the rest of the week.”

Tomato nodded along as he spoke. He had a hand under his chin and looked contemplative. After a long moment of silence, he hummed a long note to get even everyone's attention. Only once everyone was looking his way did he continue. “You know, I know we all said ‘no’ to paintball before but what about something similar but a little bit different?”

Bed rose a brow at him but didn’t seem to have any reason to say no as of yet. “Sounds interesting. What were you thinking?”

“What about laser tag?”

Bucks eyes lit up at that and he made a happy noise, leg bouncing in rapid succession. He shifted in his seat and looked back and forth between Bed and Criken for their opinion. “Oh, that would be awesome! We can do teams and Bed and I can go against you two. Oh! oh! Orrrrrr we can do a divide and conquer and work together and fight everyone else-”

He continued to talk animatedly about teams and code names, missing the happy glances that the others directed at each other. Bed was overjoyed that every semblance of the bad mood he was in before was gone and wore a content expression. He gave Buck’s hand a comforting squeeze.

Criken had his head resting on Tomato's shoulder and was smiling as well, saying nothing as Tomato snuck in a quick kiss to his cheek while the other two weren't looking. He leaned into kiss and reached down to grab his hand as well.

That night they didn't end up streaming but really, none of them were really feeling up to it after the day they had. They were tired from experiencing the longest and most tiring double date ever. It hadn't been the best double date in the world but it certainly hadn't been the worst and they all had the rest of the week to enjoy with each other. And after that, they'd have many, many more to come.

After all, absence does make the heart grow fonder.

***

 

**Author's Note:**

> Buck is such a pure bean. Every time I write him, I just want to wrap him in piles of blankets and protect him from my dark fics. Someone take him away from me before I end up writing something angsty with him. 
> 
> I haven't had to use the 'major character death' tag yet and I won't lie.... I'm tempted.


End file.
